Study Guide for Earth Science Final
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
1. What are the 4 main areas of Earth Science?
2. List the steps of the scientific method in order.
3. What is a control?
4. What is a variable?
5. What is the difference between an independent and dependent variable?
6. What is a hypothesis?
MAPPING
7. Describe a map legend.
8. Describe contour lines, include the terms relief and contour interval.
9. Differentiate between latitude and longitude. Include reference from the prime meridian and equator.
10. Explain what it means when contour lines are close together or far apart.
GEOLOGY
11. What is a rock? What are they made of?
12. What are the 3 different types of rocks and how does each form?
13. What is the difference between an intrusive and extrusive rock?
14. Label the rock cycle diagram.
15. What is porphyritic texture?
16. What are the major components of soil?
17. What is the difference between mechanical and chemical weathering?
18. What are the 4 factors that determine the rate of weathering?
19. Define erosion and list at least 4 agents of erosion.
20. In a soil profile, what is found in the following layers:
a. A horizon
b. B horizon
c. C horizon
d. Below A, B, C
21. Be able to use a soil texture triangle to determine the percentages of silt, sand and clay in soil.
PLATE TECTONICS & VOLCANOES & EARTHQUAKES
22. Describe how Pangaea and Continental Drift are related.
23. What are the 4 pieces of evidence supporting Continental Drift?
24. Describe the theory of plate tectonics.
25. What are the 4 main layers of Earth?
26. Define Lithosphere and Asthenosphere.
27. What are the different types of plate boundaries and what processes occur at each boundary?
28. Define subduction. At what type(s) of plate boundaries does subduction occur?
29. Where does sea-floor spreading occur? What is happening where the sea floor is spreading?
30. What layer of the Earth are the plates composed of?
31. What can paleomagnetic rocks tell us? What does the magnetic striping along ocean
floor indicate?
32. What is a seismograph? Seismogram? Richter Scale?
33. Define epicenter, focus, and fault.
34. How are earthquakes related to plate tectonics?
35. How does a tsunami form?
36. List and Describe the 3 types of volcanoes. Give an example of each type of volcano.
37. Explosive volcanoes have _____ gas, _____ silica, and _____ viscosity.
38. Define tephra and compare the size of volcanic ash, lapilli and volcanic
bombs.
39. Label A-D on the diagram to the right.
40. Define seismic waves and describe each type.
41. Explain the elastic rebound theory.
42. Explain the difference between the P-wave and the S-wave.
43. Explain the number of seismic stations needed to determine the location of the epicenter and why.
RENEWABLE & NONRENEWABLE ENERGY
44. What are the two sources of energy that all natural processes derive their energy from?
45. What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources? Examples?
46. What are some advantages and disadvantages of the following types of power?
a. wind power
b. hydroelectric power
c. nuclear power
d. solar power
47. What is a fossil fuel? Name 3 fossil fuels. How are they formed?
BIODIVERSITY, BIOMES, and POPULATIONS
48. What is a biome?
49. Why is biodiversity important?
50. How do the following threaten biodiversity?
a. Pollution
b. Habitat destruction
c. Invasive species
51. Define species.
52. What is the difference between biotic and abiotic factors? Give an example of each.
53. What are examples of limiting factors on a population?
54. Complete the chart below regarding biomes.
Biome / Abiotic factors / Animals / PlantsTropical rain forest
Tropical dry forest
Tropical savanna
Desert
Temperate grassland
Temperate woodland & shrubland
Temperate forest
Northwestern coniferous forest
Boreal forest
Tundra
55. What is exponential growth? Make a sketch of the graph. What is an example of a population that exhibits this type of growth?
56. What is logistic growth? Make a sketch of the graph. What is an example of a population that exhibits this type of growth?
57. In logistic growth, why does the curve go up and down after it has reach carrying capacity?
58. What is carrying capacity?
FRESHWATER/GROUNDWATER
59. In what zone is groundwater located? What is the top of this zone called? What is
the zone of aeration?
60. Be able to determine whether a well would be able to get water by looking at a diagram.
61. Define Eutrophication.
62. Define porosity and permeability. What happens if a rock is impermeable?
63. What are some sources of groundwater pollution?
64. What is the difference between point and non-point source pollution? examples?
65. List some stream characteristics that could contribute to higher erosion rates and material
transport.
66. What is a stream load? Name the 3 main parts of a stream load. If very fast water begins to slow down, in what order are these 3 parts deposited?
67. What is the Clean Water Act?
68. What is a river basin? What are the headwaters and mouth of a river? What issues are facing
NC’s river basins?
69. How does velocity change as water flows around a curve? How does this affect erosion and deposition?
70. What is the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?
71. What kinds of features are common in an area with karst topography?
OCEANOGRAPHY & BEACHES
72. Define Salinity. What units are used to express it?
73. What two factors affect salinity?
74. What is a thermocline?
75. What factors affect the density of seawater? Why is the density of seawater important?
76. Describe the oceans’ effect on coastal climates.
77. What are examples of landforms created by wave erosion?
78. What can be done to try to limit beach erosion and its effects?
79. How are barrier islands formed and how do they change over time?
80. What is upwelling in the ocean?
81. What causes tides?
82. What are the three types of tides? Describe their motion.
83. What is the difference between a surface current, a density current, and a turbidity current?
ATMOSPHERE & WEATHER
84. What are the layers of the atmosphere?
85. What gases is the atmosphere composed of?
86. Where is the Ozone Layer?
87. Label the layers of the atmosphere. In which layer does weather occur?
88. What is the Coriolis Effect? In what direction does it affect fluids in the northern hemisphere? How does a pressure gradient affect winds?
89. What is the greenhouse effect and what is the #1 greenhouse gas?
90. Compare/contrast weather and climate
91. What are the classifications in the Koppen Climate System based on? What are the major classifications in this system? Which one do we live in?
92. What are the origins for winds?
93. What is the difference between radiation, conduction, and convection?
94. Define sublimation, deposition, evaporation, and condensation.
95. Warm air can hold ______water vapor than cold air.
96. What is an air mass?
97. Draw and label the 4 main types of fronts. Show how
the air masses move and the type of precipitation produced.
98. What is a jet stream?
99. Compare and Contrast High and Low Pressure systems.
100. How does a tornado form? How does it die?
101. How does a hurricane form? How does it die?
102. What is an emergency preparedness plan? What things should it include?
103. What is the relationship between elevation and climate?
104. List the characteristics of the 4 different air masses. (cP, mP, cT, mT)
105. What is the term for the boundary where two air masses meet?
106. What is the ultimate energy source that creates wind and waves?
107. What instrument measures…
a. wind speed:
b. atmospheric pressure:
c. humidity:
108. Be able to interpret a weather map.
109. What are isobars? How can you tell where the wind speeds will be the highest?
CLIMATE CHANGE & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
110. What is climate change? What trend does it try to explain?
111. What are greenhouse gases? Why are they important?
112. What are some consequences of deforestation? Mining? Over-grazing? Urbanization? How does land use affect sustainability?
113. List some things that humans can do to keep our society sustainable.
114. What are chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s)? In what products have they been used?
115. How does the ozone layer protect humans?
116. What does the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” mean?
117. Be able to label a diagram of the greenhouse effect.
ASTRONOMY
118. What is difference between the geocentric and heliocentric model of the universe?
.
119. What is retrograde motion?
120. What is the shape of the Earth and why is it this shape?
121. Draw and label the 8 phases of the moon.
122. What are the terrestrial planets? What are the Jovian planets?
123. Describe contributions to astronomy of the following astronomers:
a. Ptolemy
b. Copernicus
c. Kepler
d.
e. Galileo
f. Newton –
124. What is the shape of the planets’ orbits? What are Kepler’s 3 Laws and how do they apply to the orbits of planets?
125. What are the different forms of electromagnetic radiation?
126. What role does Earth’s magnetic field play?
127. What information can a star’s spectrum provide?
128. What is the Doppler Effect? And what can it tell astronomers?
129. Know how to interpret an HR diagram. What are the 3 regions of the diagram, and where are they located?
130. As a star’s brightness increases on the diagram, what happens to its magnitude? (Does the number become larger or more negative?)
131. What are the different layers of the sun?
132. What is the composition of the sun?
133. What are the characteristics of sunspots?
134. What is the source of the sun’s energy?
135. Describe the relationship of color and temperature of stars.
136. What do light-years measure?
137. What characteristic of a star does magnitude describe?
138. Describe the difference between absolute and apparent magnitude.
139. Describe the Nebular Theory.
140. What force is needed to form a star?
141. What happens when a star dies?
142. Describe black hole characteristics.
143. Provide evidence for an expanding universe.
144. What is the “Big Bang” theory? What does it try to explain? What are two pieces of evidence for it?
.
145. Define precession, nutation and barycenter.